Starlight Bristlenose Ok For My Tank

[robin23]

just brought two Starlight Bristlenose pleco(via ebay), just making sure they will be ok in my 190lt coner tank size, 110cm from one side to the other 69cm from back to front, as i heard they can grow to about 7" max(if female) so do you guys think just one would be anough or is two fine

cheers rob

 

[TwoTankAmin]

This is why I hate common names. There are two Ancistrus that can be referred to as starlight.

One is L182- Ancistrus Punctatus. It can grow to over 9 inches. Two in your tank may be problems longer term. It is an area issue for territory more than a volume issue.

The other is the L183 Ancistrus dolichopterus. This fish maxes out at about 4 inches, is a blackwater fish and should be kept in a soft water, lower pH tank (6.5 max but lower would be better) or the fish will not thrive and, at worst, will not survive. The 183 has a lovely white edge on its dorsal and tail. Two of these would be fine in your size tank but then you would have to be sure to give them a blackwater environment.

You should be able to tell which you have by the presence or absence of the white edging.

 

[robin23]

they are Starlight bristlenose pleco (Ancistrus sp. L182) just found out they grow to 6" max so all ok

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Two of the best catfish sites on the net disagree with that size assessment;

Scotcat says-
[quote]Aquarium Care: As this is one of your larger Ancistrus sp. you would need to provide a good sized tank and hiding places. Water quality should be kept high with good filtration as this species can produce a lot of waste. [/quote]
http/www.scotcat.c...s_punctatus.htm

PlanetCatfish says-

Size 250mm (9.8") SL.

http/www.planetcat...?species_id=147

Incidentally, SL stand for Standard length which does not include the tail in the measurement. Total length (TL) going to be closer to 11.5 inches or so.

And lets make it a triple. In his book, "Back to Nature, Guide to L-Catfishes", Ingo Seidel lists the size as 25-30 cm.

 

[robin23]

there so many mate i have read on about 5 diffrent websites with all diffrents sizes and i got between 6-8"

http/elite-pets.narod.ru/fish_br40.htm

 

[robin23]

http/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancistrus_hoplogenys < even wikipedia says 6"-7"

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I provided you with links to three internationally respected authorities on this. You have responded with some Russian pet site I would not trust as far as you can throw it and a completely different fish (L059) on a Wiki site, another place I would not trust on the topic of fish information.

I guess you want this fish to be that size and no expert opinion to the contrary is going to change your mind. Not even when it comes from folks who have actually collected/observed these fish in the wild.

 

[xingumike]

This fish is/was my mates back in the UK and was by far and away the largest Ancistrus I have ever seen in my life, at least 7 inches (TL) so forget the 6 inch max advice you may have dug out from the depths of the web, I have seen bigger with my own eyes.